Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump On Trial; New Parnas Documents Suggest U.S. Ambassador Was Surveilled; Anti-Government Protests In Beirut; Women's Marches Getting Underway Across The Country; Evelyn Yang Speaks At NYC Women's March; Trump Recounts Details Leading Up To Soleimani's Death; Daily Tremors Continue As Puerto Rico Struggles To Recover; Tallahassee's Civil Rights History. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 18, 2020 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:07]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Good morning.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

It's an important day on Capitol Hill as the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump begins to take shape. House managers have only six hours now left to file their impeachment brief which lays out the facts, evidence and legal arguments members plan to present. The President then must respond to the secretary of Senate by 6:00 tonight.

Today's deadline comes as Democrats reveal new evidence in the case. Photos released last night show more documentation of indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas meeting with President Trump. The latest new evidence is the third released this week showing Parnas in close connection with the President and his family.

But despite all of that, President Trump strongly denying knowing Parnas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know those gentlemen. Now it's possible I have a picture with them because I have a picture with everybody.

I don't know them. I don't know about them. I don't know what they do. But I don't know. Maybe they were clients of Rudy. You'd have to ask Rudy.

I don't know Parnas, other than I guess I had pictures taken, which I do with thousands of people, including people today that I didn't meet but just met them.

I don't know him at all. I don't know what he's about. I don't know where he comes from. I know nothing about him. He's trying to probably make a deal. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Documents released last night also include new text messaging about the apparent surveillance of former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. Those texts reveal contact between Parnas and some of the President Trump's fiercest supporters, including an aide for the House Intelligence Committee's ranking member Congressman Devin Nunes.

For more on this we turn to Senior Writer at CNN Politics, Zachary Wolf.

Zachary, good to see you.

Boy, there's a lot on that plate that we just dished out. You know, let's start with these new documents, for one, released by Democrats. How is this being added to the Democrats' arsenal?

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER: Well, I think, at the end of the day what this will do is create an intense amount of pressure for there to be new evidence and witnesses included ultimately at the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

You mentioned those briefs that are due today. We will have to see what Democrats mention about this in the briefs. But I think this will become even more important later in the trial as they try to force this issue of witnesses and whether people like Lev Parnas or Rudy Giuliani should be called at the Senate trial and whether senators should hear new evidence or just what Democrats put in the articles of impeachment, which didn't include any of this stuff that we have learned since from Lev Parnas.

WHITFIELD: The documents also appear to implicate, you know, Congressman Devin Nunes. You know, Parnas was in close contact with one of the congressman's aides. How can he be in contact with the aide and not perhaps the congressman himself?

WOLF: This is a truly incredible I think development. You have to take a step back and think about who Devin Nunes is. During the impeachment hearings, he was the very person who is in charge of Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.

He was theoretically supposed to be investigating the, you know, the allegations that led to impeachment. It turns out that he was intricately involved -- or it seems as evidence suggests -- he and his office were intricately involved in this effort to get rid of Marie Yovanovitch. They were talking to Lev Parnas, who's this character that emerged, you know, from the underworld as a key player in all of this.

So that sort of makes it pretty remarkable that Devin Nunes didn't mention any of this during those impeachment hearings.

WHITFIELD: All right. Zachary Wolf -- thank you so much.

WOLF: Thanks. WHITFIELD: So these new documents from Parnas also suggest that former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch may have been illegally spied on while working in Ukraine. A series of text messages, more on that, seem to reveal efforts by a Republican congressional candidate named Robert Hyde to surveil Yovanovitch and report her movements to Lev Parnas.

Well, in an interview last night, Hyde denied the allegations and claimed that he was only joking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT HYDE (R-CT), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: So they're sending me these texts and I'm like whatever, dude, yes, under surveillance. Just joking.

Nobody ever really knew that -- I never pictured anything was real. I didn't think anything was real. Who would be surveilling a U.S. Ambassador? Like, who can do that?

I never imagined like these jokers you meet at fundraisers that, you know, legit were like Rob, pull me aside, stay away from these people. I never thought like anything they were saying was real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:05:02]

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's go straight now to CNN's Sam Kiley in Kiev.

So Sam, I understand that the U.S. State Department is now investigating along with the Ukrainian government. What is the focus of this investigation?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, that's what Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, had said would happen following these allegations or suggestions, shall we say, that the U.S. Ambassador at the time was being subjected to surveillance by people associated with Lev Parnas himself. Of course, very closely associated at that time with Rudy Giuliani, who was a regular visitor here to Ukraine as part of his campaign to try to get the governments here, successive governments, to launch an investigation into the role of Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, former U.S. vice president and his role at this company Burisma.

Now, the problem with all of this from the Ukrainian perspective is that they really have insisted that they don't see any case to answer on the part of the Bidens. But they have said that following these allegations because they're responsible for the safety of diplomats here on Ukrainian soil that they have launched an investigation.

What they have also said though as of yesterday afternoon talking to an official in the interior ministry that -- he was saying that they have reached out to the FBI for help in this matter but haven't yet heard back. He didn't think anything was sinister about that -- Fredricka. Just

that it was a relatively new case.

But there is a strong sense of frustration verging on incredulity now, particularly if you look at the characters that are being drawn into this process by these text messages being exchanged by Mr. Hyde, who's certainly not, by his own admission, the sort of person who would be organizing illegal surveillance. Other characters really pretty -- of increasing levels of preposterousness frankly.

And those are the thoughts of people that have surrounded Rudy Giuliani throughout his investigations here. I could stress the Ukrainians did not believe the Bidens were up to anything no good here in Ukraine.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sam Kiley -- thank you so much. We'll check back with you from Ukraine.

All right. I'm joined now by assistant editor for "The Washington Post" and CNN Political Commentator, David Swerdlick and Jennifer Rodgers is a former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst. Good to see you both.

All right. There's a lot there.

David -- let's begin with, you know, so much evidence that has come out in the last few days. Lev Parnas, you know, the associate of Rudy Giuliani saying that he was told to communicate with congressional candidate Robert Hyde.

And you heard Hyde saying he always thought it was a joke, you know, to actually try to surveil the U.S. Ambassador. Who would believe that? He was apparently in contact with a mysterious Belgian phone number allegedly about this kind of, you know, account of where she was and at what point.

So, David -- how can senators ignore this mounting evidence by way of, you know, testimony, accounts, interviews, et cetera?

DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, good morning -- Fred.

So I think let's step back first and remember that the U.S. ambassador to any country is the personal representative of the President of the United States. So even if Hyde says now he wasn't doing anything illegal or he thought it was a big joke, what is funny about joking about stalking or surveilling or potentially threatening a U.S. ambassador, number one.

And I think you have to look at the senators now going into this impeachment trial and them saying to themselves look, why was this guy whether he was joking or not, apparently in contact with Parnas, who was apparently in contact with Mayor Giuliani, who was apparently in contact with the President? And why were all of these people sort of strung together, whether or not we know exactly what was communicated to whom and when? That has to be on the minds of these members as they go into this trial.

WHITFIELD: And Jennifer -- I mean, the Secretary of State, Pompeo, has yet to say anything declarative about how wrong, how frightening, if anything, to send a message to all diplomats about the protection that they have, you know, while abroad and even, you know, here at home. So there are protections in place for U.S. diplomats.

What line was crossed here potentially involving, you know, U.S. counterparts? What laws may have been broken? What penalties might there be for doing so?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, that's not entirely clear at this point, Fred. They've just started an investigation. And so far, all we know is that there were suggestions of surveillance.

So, you know, we don't yet know what's going on. I mean what's really at issue is potentially there are stalking laws that apply in the U.S.

[11:09:53]

RODGERS: You know, beyond that without an actual approach or assault, it's not entirely clear that there are U.S. laws that were broken here. But the impropriety of the whole thing is really striking.

And the notion that now Pompeo, with all this public pressure, is starting an investigation -- where is the Department of Justice? And where was Pompeo when this news first broke?

And the notion that the Ukrainians had to be the first to announce that they were starting a criminal inquiry is really ridiculous.

WHITFIELD: Right. And if Pompeo didn't know about it or can say he didn't know anything about it, he like the rest of the world, heard Yovanovitch during her testimony saying that she started to fear for her life, you know, while in Ukraine. And there were many instances that supported that.

So we've also learned now because the tentacles are wide and long and far reaching, you know, that an aide to Congressman Devin Nunes was in contact with Parnas about digging up dirt on President Trump's rivals. Nunes also now admitting that he had phone conversations with Parnas.

So David -- Nunes is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, was supposed to be part, you know, of the whole investigative extension of what's going on here. And now potentially he may be one who needs to be investigated himself.

SWERDLICK: Yes, Fred -- I think we need to learn a lot more about this. And I don't know what the process would be for the House to investigate one of its own members in a circumstance like this.

But let's look at the pattern here. I was on the air with you on the morning of Saturday, March 4, 2017, when the President tweeted about President Obama wiretapping his phone. That sort of bled into two or three weeks later reporting about Congressman Nunes going in secret to the White House to look at information in the skiff apparently to find information that they thought -- they meaning Republicans on the hill and the White House -- would be damaging to Democrats, including in the Obama administration and the Clinton campaign.

Now you have another situation where at first Congressman Nunes was denying this. But it turns out that he was having these sort of secret communications, either him directly or his staff with Lev Parnas --

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: And the questions then were what is he doing? Why is he doing that?

SWERDLICK: What is he doing? Right, right. And we need to know those answers. I encourage all of your viewers to find that clip of Congressman Nunes talking to Martha MacCallum on Fox. I mean the look on her face when he's like oh, you mean Lev Parnas. You know, her whole expression is like, come on, son. I mean she does all she can do to hold it together.

But the idea that a congressman would not remember someone who figures this prominently in this case, whether or not any laws were broken, is just a lot to ask the American people to believe.

WHITFIELD: So Lev Parnas spoke with CNN about his contact with President Trump as well and how involved others in the White House were in all of this. This was Lev Parnas earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEV PARNAS, FORMER ASSOCIATE OF RUDY GIULIANI: It was all about 2020, to make sure he has another four years. And I that is --

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And -- but that's how you personally viewed it. That this is about 2020, to help him get the next four years?

PARNAS: That was the way everybody viewed it.

COOPER: You're saying Vice President Pence knew?

PARNAS: I don't know if the Vice President knew everything we were doing. I'm sure he was --

(CROSSTALKING)

COOPER: But he knew about the quid pro quo?

(CROSSTALKING)

PARNAS: Of course, he knew. Everybody knew -- everybody that quote, "was close to Trump" knew that this was a thorn in the side and this was a serious situation.

COOPER: Bolton?

PARNAS: Bolton.

COOPER: Mulvaney?

PARNAS: Mulvaney. Bolton I don't think agreed with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. But Jennifer -- a lot of names there. You know, some of those names, you know, are on the Democrats' list. They want to hear from them.

He himself, Lev Parnas said many times, multiple times -- I'm the one that you need to be talking to. He's talking to the Senate.

Do you believe that his interviews, that this kind of cacophony, you know, of evidence, you know, will in any way sway senators? I mean how could they ignore this? How could they close their ears to all of this?

RODGERS: Well, I think it may sway them. You know, a lot of information has been coming out despite President Trump's desire to keep wraps on all of it through Freedom of Information requests and now Lev Parnas coming forward with documents and interviews.

And it gets harder and harder to ignore the fact that while we know a lot about the President's scheme, we don't know everything. And many of the key witnesses who can tell us what the President actually said, they were in the room with him discussing this issue and what happened -- like Bolton, like Mulvaney -- are the ones that we really need to hear from to get the most critical evidence.

There is a lot of evidence, there's more to come and senators now know that it's sitting out there ripe for the taking. All they have to do is request it.

WHITFIELD: And they all took the oath this week to be impartial. And you've heard many who've said, you know, the House is supposed to do the work and we're supposed to just kind of, you know, follow up with it.

But the swearing in, you know, was big, David -- really saying that they have to uphold the duty to do their best to carry out a fair, impartial trial.

[11:14:59]

SWERDLICK: Right, Fred -- they take that separate oath and they're supposed to come into this treating the evidence in an impartial manner.

I am a little more skeptical than Jennifer about whether or not minds will be changed. Maybe a couple of Republican votes to hear some witnesses. I would be surprised if we hear from Bolton or Duffy or Parnas in the Senate trial.

I am very skeptical that -- any Republicans will vote to remove the President. I'm not even sure that every Democrat in the Senate will vote to remove President Trump. I really think lines have been drawn here. We have to go through this process. But there's not a lot of persuasion going on.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much -- David Swerdlick, Jennifer Rodgers. Appreciate it.

SWERDLICK: Thanks -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead -- demonstrators plan to descend on the White House in the name of women's rights and equality as thousands more rally across the globe. We're live from the center of the movement, next.

And President Trump reveals new details on why he attacked Iran's top military commander. And the mere seconds it took to take him out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir. 30 seconds -- 10, 9, 8. Then all of a sudden boom. They're gone, sir. Cutting off. I said where is this guy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: More on the detail and the audience to which he was speaking.

And this breaking news. This out of Beirut where anti-government protesters are clashing with officers. A live report next.

[11:16:34]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Breaking news out of Beirut, Lebanon where anti-government protests have turned violent. Tear gas, explosions in the street as protesters clash with police. You can hear the noise right there and the clashes taking place.

Pretty incredible video there.

CNN Senior International Correspondent, Ben Wedeman is there. So Ben -- explain what's happening there. And you're in protective gear?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But we're just down the street from the parliament where earlier demonstrators were right outside of it. They clashed with the riot police who were using water cannons, tear gas.

And now we're up the street here in Martyr Square, which is really the heart of Beirut where right behind me are the riot police. They've been firing dozens and dozens of rounds of tear gas. And over here, let's go have a quick look, the protesters are sort of back there. You can't really see them because of the thick tear gas that is going on. But just to give you a bit of context, it's now more than three months that these mass protests have been going on.

They have been by and large peaceful but this week has been declared as a week of rage, and it certainly has lived up to its description. We have seen violent clashes with the security forces in other parts of Beirut, one of the main sort of shopping districts. There were demonstrations there last night and earlier in the week that turned violent. And these are really -- as far as I can say is the most violent we have seen so far.

What are they protesting against? Lebanon's going through what is essentially an economic collapse. The local currency, the lira has lost 60 percent of its value against the dollar and this is a country that imports almost everything. So prices have skyrocketed.

Unemployment has gone up. Some people are only being paid half their salary. Others no salaries at all but expected to work nonetheless. And this is the result.

Some economists have described this as the pitchfork moment -- the moment where people decide peaceful demonstrations, peaceful protests doesn't work and it's time to become violent.

WHITFIELD: So, Ben -- it's been called this week of rage and we're going to move with you, at the same time we're hearing -- you know, I guess that's tear gas, you know, going off.

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: But we're also hearing kind of that call -- a call to prayer that was also in the background that usually comes from the mosque?

WEDEMAN: Yes, because the main mosque of Beirut is right behind me, the Mohammad Al Amin Mosque. And it just happens to be the time of prayer. But I don't see a lot of people stopping whatever they're doing to pray at the moment. This -- clearly the focus is on protest.

Now, you may have heard these bangs before. Those are fireworks. Fortunately, nobody is using live ammunition at the moment.

But I mean here -- let's just move over. If you look at the road behind me, I will just step out of the way, you get an idea how many rocks have been thrown just in the last I'd say 40 minutes or so.

And behind the haze of the tear gas, there are hundreds of people, mostly young men and young women, who have been taking part in this protest which does not seem to be coming to an end on this Saturday night here in Beirut.

WHITFIELD: Ben Wedeman -- thank you so much, in the thick of it there. We're going to come back with you. Of course, do be careful. And we are seeing it live as it happens. You have the streams of tear gas there and these clashes between these anti-government protesters and authorities -- police there.

Ben Wedeman -- be safe. We will be back with you.

And more on this breaking news coverage throughout the hour. And we will be right back.

[11:24:51]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Right now, live pictures -- thousands of people are gathering near the White House in Washington, D.C. for today's fourth annual Women's March. The event first began in 2017, if you recall, a day after President Trump's inauguration. That's when one million people, many of them wearing pink hats, turned out for marches nationwide, making it the largest single-day protest in American history.

CNN's Rebecca Buck is in the nation's capital now. Rebecca -- you've got a little snow flurries there but this weather has not in any way deterred the turnout. What are people saying? What brought them there today?

[11:30:01]

REBECCA BUCK, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right -- Fred. Well, as you can imagine, much like the first women's march and those in subsequent years, this fourth annual women's march, the fourth of Trump's presidency, is bringing women out largely to protest him and what he stands for in the White House and (INAUDIBLE) specific issues.

They focused on recent years on climate change, on immigration, on women's reproductive rights but as you can imagine, impeachment and the impending trial in the Senate is a huge topic of discussion here and inspiration for the marchers.

And, of course, this is a women's march happening in a national election year. We will have this presidential election in November of this year and you can see some of the women and men here supporting candidates.

We have seen Tulsi Gabbard signs, Elizabeth Warren 2020 signs. And we have also seen and, of course, anti-Trump signs. Talking about getting him out of office, whether it's from impeachment or from the election.

So a great deal of enthusiasm, even though it's a smaller crowd than we've seen in past years. The focus organizers said going into this year was going to be on grassroots activism, on the issues that's core of the women's march movement. Not wanting to distract or take away with celebrity speeches this year.

So it's really a more grassroots feel than we've seen in the past. And you can see here on Pennsylvania Avenue marchers starting to line up. They will make their way to the White House, circle the White House -- and you will see choreography there before they return here to Freedom Plaza right near, of course, Trump Hotel as well -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Right across the street from the Trump Hotel.

All right. Rebecca Buck -- thank you so much. We'll check back with you throughout the day.

All right. Meantime there's a state of emergency today in Richmond, Virginia amid fear of violence at a pro gun rally planned for Monday at the state capitol. So far seven suspected white supremacists are under arrest, three of whom police say were planning to go to that rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

A temporary weapons ban is in effect on state capitol grounds. The governor putting extra security measures in place to avoid a repeat of the deadly violence in Charlottesville in 2017.

CNN's Nick Valencia joining me right now from Richmond with more on the growing tensions. Nick -- what are you learning?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredericka.

This rally is two days away but we're already seeing stepped-up security measures. In fact earlier this morning I saw a group on their way into the capital including a woman holding a toddler, she was thoroughly screened, wanded down. We're also seeing very thorough screenings of bags and backpacks.

We want to be clear. What is happening on Monday happens every year. It's an event officially called Lobby Day hosted by the Virginia Citizens Defense League and what they do is they enter capitol grounds and lobby their representatives to be pro gun rights

What's different this year though is that the state legislature is controlled for the first time in a quarter of century by Democrats. You also have a Democratic governor here. What the Virginia State Senate did when they came into office is they passed three gun control measures, including background checks and all firearms sales limiting gun purchases to one every 30 days. They're also allowing some localities to ban guns in certain areas.

These measures, these bills have actually angered pro gun rights groups like the Virginia Citizens Defense League, saying that this is a threat to law-abiding citizens. And they say if this could happen here in Virginia, what does that mean for the rest of the country?

All of this, of course, against the backdrop of a state of emergency announced earlier this week by the Virginia governor. He says there's credible threat of violence here on Monday. Critics of course, are saying that this is political theater. They don't agree with the weapons bans, the temporary weapons ban on Capitol grounds.

The governor though insisting that there were credible threats, FBI even expressing some worry and you saw what happened earlier this week with the arrest of those suspected neo-Nazis -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia -- thank you so much.

So once again, today is Women's March Day taking place in so many major cities. In New York City Evelyn Yang -- she's the wife of presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who is speaking right now. This coming after she revealed being allegedly sexually assaulted by her OBGYN while she was seven months pregnant.

Let's listen in to what she has to say -- Evelyn Yang.

[LIVE EVENT]

EVELYN YANG, WIFE OF ANDREW YANG: Thank you, everyone. Thank you so much for braving the cold to be out here today.

I am so honored to be here with you all, roaring for justice, roaring for equality, roaring for peace and roaring for change.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Evelyn Yang. And as Susan mentioned, I'm a professional marketer turned stay-at-home mom. I have two wonderful little boys at home, one of whom is autistic. And I've lived in New York my entire life.

[11:34:59]

YANG: But I never imagined that I would be here today in this context with my husband, Andrew Yang, running for president. I have to admit that when he first told me he was running, I thought it might just be a phase.

Like so many of us, he was very unhappy with the outcome of the last presidential election. And he was searching for answers. When I realized what his motivation was and what he was sent out to accomplish, that's when I gave him my blessings.

Andrew is fighting for big structural change. Putting power back into people's hands. His message is humanity first. And his signature proposal is the freedom dividend -- $1,000 --

WHITFIELD: So, again -- Evelyn Yang there, wife of presidential candidate Andrew Yang there speaking at the women's march in New York. We will continue to monitor her remarks and keep a close watch on all of the marches taking place nationwide in all the major cities.

We'll be right back.

[11:36:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Minute-by-minute details of the operation that killed Iran's top military commander from President Trump at a private fundraiser last night at his Florida estate. The President described in detail watching the operation unfold as Qasem Soleimani arrived at Baghdad International Airport and military officials counted down the final moments of the general's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They said, Sir, this is from the cameras that are miles in the sky. They're together, sir.

Sir, they have two minutes and 11 seconds -- no emotion -- they have two minutes and 11 seconds to live, sir. They're in a car. They're in an armored vehicle going.

Sir, they have approximately one minute to live, sir. 30 seconds, 10, 9, 8 and all of a sudden boom. They're gone, sir. Cutting off. I said where is this guy? That was the last I heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

I want to bring in CNN Military Analyst, Retired Major General Spider Marks. General -- good to see you.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Your reaction to the commander in chief sharing these kinds of details and the manner in which he's doing so -- a military strike is the subject at this political fundraiser?

MARKS: You know, the details, certainly, I have no qualms and I would say that's perfectly fine. And I'm also assuming the President was not getting a live video feed in terms of what was taking place.

We all have the image of President Obama and his national security team during the bin Laden raid where they were watching in great detail, great precision.

WHITFIELD: That was as it was happening.

MARKS: As it was happening, absolutely. It was a live feed.

I'm assuming the President was not getting that when the strike against Soleimani took place. To be that dismissive I think is inappropriate.

But this is a moment of great gravity. We took an incredibly horrible leader off the battlefield, which needed to be done. Let's just state that.

We can have this debate but I think it was absolutely the right thing to do. But not to be dismissive about it. I think it's an incredible tribute to the intelligence community and the military that can lash these capabilities together and have this level of precision.

And when you think about it, zero collateral damage -- exactly what was intended to take place took place. It should be a moment to say my God, aren't we lucky to have and aren't we fortunate to have this type of military and this type of an intelligence community. Next subject. WHITFIELD: Did you feel like the President was, you know, cavalier? I

mean there was some laughing, you know, to punctuate, you know, his messaging. And do you worry at all that that could end up being used, you know, in the hands of those who were trying to, you know, promote harm? That perhaps they might find that insulting.

MARKS: Well, if we were to describe the President's behavior as dismissive, that in the hands of our enemies is irrelevant. I mean they're going to do what they're going to do. This is a real definition of recidivist behavior.

Our enemies are not swayed necessarily by our effect and our successes in combat. They essentially move in a certain direction until eventually they run out of steam. And I'm not certain in many cases that how we portray that is going to accelerate their ability to change their behavior.

But I must say when someone like Soleimani is taken out, I mean there's a moment to feel good about what you're doing. Certainly that's a private moment among those who are able to achieve that success. But it shouldn't go any further.

WHITFIELD: Do you think the public or even members of Congress are still owed more detail about the imminent threat that Soleimani posed, because that was the justification for taking him out?

MARKS: You know, the notion of imminent threat, this discussion of imminence I think is -- I have stated earlier, it's really a solution looking for a problem.

The definition of imminent was not necessary. Under the AUMF the President had incredibly broad powers in legal domestic interpretation in terms of what he could do and he took that AUMF and he executed this task.

The discussion really should be, should he versus could he? I'm of the opinion that he could, obviously legally, and he should have and he did. So that's a good thing

But the imminence discussion is when the administration raised that I thought this is a mistake. They did not have to do that. They could have said we took Soleimani out. Again, what are your questions? Let's get on to something else.

[11:44:58]

WHITFIELD: Ok. Well, possibly in step with that, you know, this week's four Iran intelligence Iran briefings were canceled and many members of Congress are very upset about that. Many of them feel like they still need to hear more about this imminence. What is your take?

MARKS: Well, they should hear more about the operation. Again, as we're discussing, the imminence piece I think we can put to the side, if you'll allow me just for a second.

But, of course, there is more intelligence that should be revealed in a classified setting to be shared with members of Congress who have the appropriate clearances.

And you can open that entire operation up. It's probably got some codeword. It's got some really tight classified stuff that's associated with it. But there are members of Congress that have those appropriation clearances, and you can share that.

In a broad sense you can provide probably much greater detail than apparently has been provided.

WHITFIELD: All right. General Marks -- always good to see you. Thank you so much.

MARKS: Thank you -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. To Puerto Rico now where people are living in fear as aftershocks continue to rock the island. The largest city now uninhabitable. We'll take you there live.

[11:46:04]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Daily aftershocks and tremors continue to rumble across Puerto Rico three weeks now after a major earthquake hit the south side of the island. Hundreds of homes and buildings in the island's second largest city of Ponce are now uninhabitable. Thousands of people are still in shelters, and many of those who still have their say they're too scared to actually stay indoors.

CNN's senior Latin American affairs editor Rafael Romo is in one of the hardest-hit areas. Rafael -- what are you seeing there?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Fredricka -- this is what Puerto Rico looks like after weeks of nonstop earthquakes. This house behind me was completely destroyed by one of the strongest earthquakes.

It is not the only one that suffered this fate here on Puerto Rico's southern coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO: This 12-story residential building in Ponce on Puerto Rico's southern coast has cracks on three sides and the government has declared it uninhabitable.

Yvette Campos has taken a look at the building for the first time. She says all the residents were urgently evacuated, including her aunt. More than 400 houses and condominium buildings have sustained structural damage in Ponce, Puerto-Rico's second largest city.

The director of the local emergency management office says the fear is that if there's another major earthquake, some of the structures may collapse, trapping residents or worse.

It's the result of more than two weeks of daily tremors and aftershocks, not only in Ponce but also in towns like Guanica, located on Puerto Rico's southern coast.

Deciding what to do with damaged buildings is a huge challenge for Puerto Rico. Repairs will be costly, and demolishing houses and buildings declared uninhabitable will also cost millions of dollars.

Do you feel the Trump administration is doing enough to help Puerto Rico right now?

GOVERNOR WANDA VAZQUEZ, PUERTO RICO: I asked for the support and the commitment of the U.S. and the President of the United States. I hope this support is coming.

ROMO: A top official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency describes the challenge in military terms.

ALEX AMPARO, FEMA CARIBBEAN DIRECTOR: We're in a constant battle. I mean we're in a fight now. The ground is still shaking. I think you saw earlier we had a 5.2 and at the same time, we have people who have lost homes.

ROMO: Governor Vazquez says nearly 8,000 people remain in multiple shelters operating on Puerto Rico's southern coast. Those displaced are families whose homes are now in ruins, homes like this one in Guanica where the only thing that's left standing is a torn Puerto Rican flag.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO: And since our interview with Governor Vazquez, the White House issued a major emergency declaration for Puerto Rico which is going to free up funding and resources for the people who were left homeless by the series of earthquakes here.

Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And Rafael -- I understand a lot of people, you know, who are afraid to be back in their homes, if their homes actually withstood the earthquake are sleeping in their cars. Have you seen a lot of that?

ROMO: Yes, we've seen a lot of that. This is very evident, the damage that was sustained by this house. But there are many others where the damage is not as evident and people are afraid that if there's another major earthquake, a wall or the roof may collapse on them and that's the reason why they're staying away from their own homes. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

More news straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

But first, today's "Wander Must" in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Johnita Due, a chief diversity and inclusion officer for WarnerMedia, parent company of CNN, explores the civil rights background of Tallahassee, Florida. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNITA DUE, CHIEF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION OFFICER, WARNERMEDIA: To me, Tallahassee represents the rich history of the civil rights movement.

I am Johnita Due. I am chief diversity and inclusion officer for WarnerMedia News and Sports. My parents are civil rights activists, attorney John D. Due Jr., and the late Patricia Stevens Due.

My mother led the first jail-in of the nation right here in Tallahassee.

In the middle of downtown, you're able to literally follow the footsteps of all of the foot soldiers at the Civil Rights Heritage Walk.

[11:55:03]

JOHN DUE, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: This is important because It recognized this is beyond civil rights.

JOHNITA DUE: That's right.

JOHN DUE: It is about human rights. So -- freedom.

JOHNITA DUE: Tallahassee is also home to FAMU's Meek-Eaton black archives, which is the largest collection in the southeast of African- American history and culture.

DR. NASHID MADYUN, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA A&M BLACK AMERICANS: We chronicle the contributions of African-Americans to the strengths of society that could be literature, patents from the intellectual property. This is a remarkable collection of research papers and archives on display.

JOHNITA DUE: Tallahassee is such a vibrant town. There are a lot of cultural institutions that do mark the past but just keep you excited about the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:55:52]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)